Porsche 911T(70) engine rebuild

Hi All

I am interested in purchacing a 1970 911T but the owner says:

The Porsche 2.2 litre is famous for their poor timing chain tensioners. When they fail the cams jump time and usually bend valves. This has happened with this car. I am positive that at least one intake valve is bent. I don't have the equipment to do a leak down test so I don't know about the others.

My question is this must be an expensive fix. What Experience do others have. The rebuild would include the tensioner upgrade right? What would it cost? Other than this the car seems in good condition (body etc).

You never said how much the purchase price of the car is. It might not be worth buying, but it will depend on how much damage there is when the engine is opened up (I am assuming it doesn't run, which could be incorrect). You could need a complete engine rebuild at 5k+ for the rebuild. The natural thing to do would be to add the Carrera chain tensioner kit to the rebuild, or to what ever work is being done. Have a Porsche mechanic check it over before you jump the gun.

If a full rebuild is needed, you might want to find an early "S" engine for the same money, to add some ooomph to your "T". If the car is only a few thousand dollars and the rest of it is in beautiful shape, it might be worth the risk.

[This message has been edited by marc weintraub (edited 11-01-1999).]

[This message has been edited by marc weintraub (edited 11-01-1999).]

The price of the car is around $4000. Thanks for the speedy reply!

A

It's a funny thing with the earlier cars. They can look fine at the surface, but beware of rust and bondo. There is a great checklist on this site that you should printout. It can save you time and money. If you look on the web, there are nice early cars for sale in parts of the country where rust is less likely. Contact me if you want to go over anything regarding the earlier cars. I have had 8 cars before 1974... all of them "E" and mostly "S" cars.

[This message has been edited by marc weintraub (edited 11-01-1999).]

I just bought a '71 T. As Marc mentioned, the engine rebuild is going to cost some bucks, but the biggest problem with the early cars is rust. Rust is like cancer (you never know if it's still lurking), while engine problems are completely isolated.

The other thing to consider is what you're buying the car for. No 911 is really "cheap." I looked for the '69-73 models because I like the feel of those cars. Lots of people told me to buy an SC or later; even with the higher purchase price, you could potentially save much more money (and headaches) by buying a solid car to begin with.

Take the time to read about the cars, look around, and find a good mechanic and body shop.